The only sport that Alabamians enjoy more than Alabama politics is college football. We especially love the Alabama vs. Auburn football game – one of the fiercest of college football rivalries. It is the game of the year. It is a state civil war that divides friends and families. It is bragging rights for the entire year. The loser must live with his boasting next-door neighbor for 364 days. You must choose a side even if you despise college football and could not care less who wins. Newcomers to our state are bewildered on this fall day each year. They cannot comprehend the madness that surrounds this epic war.
Young boys all over Alabama grow up playing football in their front yards and dream of playing in this big game. It is often said that when these two rivals meet one can throw out the record books. However, this is not true. In 90% of the meetings the favorite has won. A lot of SEC championships and bowl games have been decided in this game. It has made many Alabamians’ Thanksgiving holiday either joyous or sad.
The game was not played for 40 years between 1908 and 1948. Myth has it that the game was halted because of the intense rivalry. However, that is not the case. The history is that after the 1907 game, the schools could not agree on the terms of the contract. The dispute involved meal money, lodging, officials, and how many players each side could bring. Football was not the passion it is today, so the two schools let the matter rest and the fans did not seem to care. That began to change as college football grew to a major sport in the 1940s.
When the series resumed, a popular rumor is the Alabama legislature called a special meeting and forced the teams to play. That never happened, but the House of Representatives did pass a resolution in 1947 to encourage, not force, the schools to meet in football, and officials at Alabama and Auburn agreed. The presidents of Auburn and Alabama simply decided it would be in the best interest of the schools to start playing again.
A contract was drawn up, papers signed, and the rivals literally buried the hatchet. On the morning of December 4, 1948, the presidents of each school’s student body dug a hole in Birmingham’s Woodrow Wilson Park, tossed a hatchet in, and buried it. The series resumed in 1948 with a 55-0 Alabama victory and the teams have squared off every season since.
Many of you have seen signs and car tags that simply say, “A house divided,” with half the tag emblem being Auburn and the other symbolic of the Alabama Crimson Tide. There are many families in our state where one spouse went to Auburn and the other attended Alabama. The family that epitomizes this “house divided” adage of my generation is Joe and Katie Espy of Montgomery.
Joe is an Alabama man through and through. Espy is one of our state’s most gifted and successful attorneys. He grew up in Abbeville and journeyed onto the University of Alabama where he began his meteoric legal/political career. He was President of the SGA at the Capstone, then graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. Many expected Joe to enter politics and probably become governor. However, he has lived a better life as one of the state’s top lawyers.
Katie Espy was born and raised in Eufaula. She was “Miss Everything” at Eufaula High School, including head cheerleader. She went straight to Auburn where she became a cheerleader for the Auburn Tigers. Joe and Katie have been married for 54 years. Every Auburn vs. Alabama game, Katie dons her orange and blue attire and Joe dresses in crimson and white.
As stated earlier, Joe Espy is from Abbeville. Guess who grew up around the corner from him? None other than Jimmy Rane, the Yella Fella. Espy and Rane are both 78 and were born only three months apart and grew up as best friends and neighbors.
Joe has probably been the most ardent Alabama alumnus and fan in history. He was a University of Alabama trustee for over a decade. Jimmy Rane is the most devoted Auburn man in Auburn history. He has been one of the largest benefactors of Auburn for 50 years and a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees for 25 years. These two outstanding gentlemen epitomize loyalty to their alma maters and grew up together in Abbeville – a town of 2,000, which is probably evenly divided on Iron Bowl Day.
As I have said many times in the past, Alabama is one big front porch.
WAR EAGLE and ROLL TIDE!
See you next week.
Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at [email protected].
